Card games, such as Blackjack and “Texas Hold'em” poker, are very popular with players. At least some known systems allow a plurality of players to play online poker-type games via a plurality of client devices that are connected together via the internet. During play of known online poker games, each player is dealt a hand including a set of cards being dealt from a common deck of playing cards, and places wagers based on the associated dealt hand. The game of poker is well known, including several variations of poker rules. For example, at least some known poker-type game such as, for example, “Texas Hold'em” provide each player two cards dealt face down from the common deck, after which five community cards are dealt face up from the common deck. Each player's hand is determined based on the two dealt cards and three of the five community cards. Betting rounds may occur after each player receives the two cards, after three community cards have been dealt (called the “flop”), after a fourth community card has been dealt (the “turn”), and after a fifth community card has been dealt (the “river”). In addition, antes and/or blinds may be required to bet a predefined fixed amount into a “pot” in order to participate in the round and prior to the cards being dealt. Any amount included in the “pot” may be distributed to the player having a winning card hand. During each betting round, each player may decide to remain in the round by placing and/or checking a bet or to leave the round by relinquishing any bets to the “pot” and “folding” their card hand. At the completion of the final betting round, each of the remaining player displays the player's two dealt cards in a “showdown”, and the value of each remaining player's hand is determined based on the player's two cards and three of the five community cards to form a five card poker hand, with the poker hands being ranked in standard poker fashion, such as, for example, royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card, in descending order. The player having the highest poker hand is the game winner.
In addition, players of known on-line poker systems face challenges including: 1) length of hands can be long with the players folding more than actually being involved in the hands; 2) Texas Hold'em is optimized for 10 players; 3) The percentage of player who will be in the hand till the end is low; and 4) Odds can be difficult to learn and be confusing. In addition, players of known on-line current systems may jump to a new table after a fold, thus defeating the social aspect of poker. In addition, some known systems allow for 5-player games, known as short-handed games, which are not preferable.
Over time, players may become frustrated because dealing each player hand and each community cards may take significant time during the game, thus increasing the time required to play a round of the game. Accordingly, new features are necessary to appeal to player interest and enhance excitement in order to entice longer play and increased profitability. Thus, there continues to be a need for new games to compete with or replace the most popular games being played today. The present invention is directed to satisfying these needs.